Truing machine



March 13, 1945. R SEIFRlED 2,371,587

TRUING MACHINE Filed April 20, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 180/1420 Sf/FP/[D ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 13, 1945 e Es- PATENT OFF-ICE w w w a TRUI NG CH NE n y mfSeifriefl, Inglewood, Calii'., as si gnor to a North American Aviation, 1 CaliiL, a icorporation of Delaware i Inc., Inglewood; 11,

My invention relates tofextrusion reshaping machines. Various] metals and plastics are formed by extrusion orxby analogous processes into lengths of material having a uniform cross section of predetermined shape, that is; the'cross section may be IF-shaped, I'-shaped,"Z-shap'ed,

u-shaped or various modifications thereof and is all termed generally a "structural cross section. Initially, the material is straight or nearly so; however, it is .often desirable to bend or curve thejmaterial into various forms or to twist the to close to1erance's ,thereby lending itself tethe a mass production of duplicate shapes which are amount or 're-stressing and -this of a uniform nature so that localized stresses are not again established in thework piece andjadditional material about itsfaxis, orto modify the cross section of the material or work piece." Forexample, aluminum alloy extrusions are bent and re-shaped to form frame members of wings or fusela'ges'or otherparts'of an aircraft; The presehtinvention is directed to a reshaping machine which isparticularly adapted to be Its more common use is, however, to re-shape the my companion inventions after thework piece has been annealed or normalized toremove any interchangeable.

fIo providea machine for reshapingextrusions wherein the work piece issubjected to a minimum work hardening is avoidedgthereby eliminating the need of further annealing or normalizing.

i' To provide a machine of thisnature which incorporates a novely arranged forming means which maybe utilized in conjunction with other "elements of my companion applications in the initialforming of 'thework-piece; y 1

Tdprovidean extrusion reshaping machine whereby the originalcross section of" the iwork piecemay be maintainedor 'modified as desired;

thatf. is,' the cross "portion of a T shaped or ii-shaped extrusion, or other structural shape,

' maybemaintained in its original angular relawtioniwith thstem or'legs of the T or "U or the angularrelation may bemodified as desired.

workpiece to the form originally obtained by strains or work hardening effects that may have been induced during the original forming oper- .ation; f

It should .suchas aluminum and aluminum alloys'tend to be here noted that various metals,

undergo work" hardening and various internal I lesser extent depending upon the extent that the material has been worked orfacted upon, 1

By use of my companion inventions theamoun .of'such work hardening or the amount and extent of 'internalistress is minimized, butit is necessary that the diiierent work pieces conform to close tolerances so even a slight distortion must be corrected.

My present stresses occur when the material is worked or shaped. As these efiects are removed the work piece tends to warp or distort to a greater. or

way of illustrationjor example only: I

To provide a machine of this character which utilizes iorming members that may be readily and economically manufactured "and furthermore be readily and quickly interchanged so that work-pieces having a wide variety of shapes may be producedand the use of the machine justified even though 'only a limited numberfof pieces of each shape are required. f j

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fullyappear in the course of the following"description. However, the drawings merely show andthe following description merely describes two embodiments of the present invention, which is given by i In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

invention isflnot, however, limited to use, with my companion inventions but may. be used to complete the shaping or reshaping:

after normalizing or annealing operations of' work pieces which have been formed by hand; 1 ,Accordingly, among the objects oi my inven- [tion arezl To provide a machine for reshaping extrusions Fig. 1 is a plan view of one term of my machine,-showing by solid lines its final position "and by dotted lines its initial position. i 1

"Fig; 2 is a transverse; sectional view through Fig; :4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through 4-4 Fig.3 showing particularly the manner in which the normal section ofgthe work piece may be variedin thesame or difierentwork material. h

ig. 5 1s aplan view of a modified construction ofmy machine;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

The work piece W upon which my' machine operates is an elongated strip having a structural cross section; that is, it may be T-shaped, I-shaped, U-shaped, Z-shaped in cross section or various modifications thereof. Material having a structural cross section, particularly when formed of the 'so f-ter me'tals such-as aluminum or copper "or their alloys or those .formed of plastics are usually produced by an extrusion process and are generally referred to as extrusions even though they may not have been formed by a true extrusion process; therefore, the term extrusion is used broadly for a material of structural cross section whether produced by an extrusion process or otherwise.

By way of example, a work piece W which has been made bow-shaped by one of my companion inventions or otherwise is shown. A T sh'aped cross section is shown .comprising .a stem W] and a cross portion W2, andia U-shapedcrosslsection U is shown comprising leg members III. I I

My .machine includes a work table I which is -fiat and upon .wmems' mounted inSheetII of the drawings, a pair of complementary forming seg- I ments .2 in the form of flat blocks set edge to edge. These-may be made 'from hardwood or a combination of hardwood and metal. Their outer Dr forward .and. side edges constitute work- ,ing -or ;forrningfaces 3. Inasmuch as the work .piece is -bowshaped, the combined contour .of the working faces Iis'jlikewise bow-shaped. The working facesare provided with a'peripheral slot 4 to accommodate .the-stem"WI .of the work .piece while the crossportion W2 liesagainst the.

* avork Lfacesborderinglthe slot.

The adjacent edges. of .theforniingsegmentsare provided I with complementary clearance slots .1. Within the .space dfined by 'theseslots is an expander .jack B. I The. jack may be .a mechanically operated screw Jack, or preferably a .hydraulic jack comprising ,a cylinder 9 .whichlbears ,against the .base .orirear .extremeties of the slot '1 and piston 3mm ;whioh.extends. a stem '10.

The stem;extendsforwardly and is provided with aih'ead member 12 to which is;piv oted .the kneeof atoggle'joint 13. The .toggle joint comprises toggle bars which .diverge from thehead member above and lbelowthe .two lforniing seg- -ments and .their' -..extremities are anchored or pivoted thereto so thatreciprocalzmovement of the stemlumoves-the forward extremities .ofthe I forming segments to or from each other. The ,forward confronting portions of the forming segmentsf2 are tied together topand bottom by Itie @plates .fd .through which extends bolts ll, aslot .[5 in .one end "of-..each.tie plate permits'the movement of the forming segmentsabout .the .hingefi. The. forming segments arelspac'ed from "the table! by spacer bolts [6 adaptedLtO beadjustably extended through selected holes 16a in the table I. I

The rear edges of the forming segments are straight and substantially coplanar. Rearwardly of the forming segments is secured by bolts Ha. an anchor bar I! which may be in the form of a channel iron. The anchor bar extends full width of the table. Longitudinal slots llb are @provided therein to receive anchor bolts l8 which are located so that their axes are tangent to the rearward. extremities of the forming faces 4.

If-he forward extremities of the anchor bolts lin'ks'2sn. Theiinks, in turn, are hinged to bifuroated-ends 2110f clamps 22 by means of removable' jou-rnal pins 23. The normal axis of the journaLpins is-preferably transverse to the plane of the working faces, while the anchorbolts are free to turn about their longitudinal axes so as .toprovide .a universal movement. The clamps :22. are providedwith'suitable means to grip the extremities :of the work piece.

I Between .the reafedees .of the formin S 5 Tments and the anchor bar flare interposed tension jacks 24 which areauapted to move the ioi'm'ing segments bodily 1170 and from the anchor bar .TI. The tension jacks may be similar to the expander jackf8; .that is, they may be lhy- :draiili la compr sing c linders :25 containms gpistonsf cm which e tend stem flfi The c l ntiers may securedto 'the anohoribar I11, whil thestems may be ,iournaled in brackets 21 se-. ured to t e rear voute c. n; s.of'the.form n segmentsk t. The expanderjjack and ,tensionjacks are.c onnected to .a source ojfjfiuid pressure through suitablelpressure contro1 means,. so'that theforces "that they exert may be regulated orcontrolled. In the form shownjorrIS heet J1 ofithe drawings, .a single block '30 is s'lidably mounted upon the bolts 'ifi'ithat project upwardly .above the jtop surface of the table 1,. The outer ,or f'orward .and' side. edges. of ,the block 130' constitute work- 'ing or formin faces 13, T e w k n ac ar pressed with parallel peripheralslots 32 .and

L1 -.s,hap,ed work piece lies against the: work faces between the s'lots..

mately to the required shapefbyother means,

. such asihand shaping oribynseofoneof themachines disclosedin my companion applications,

and after the work piecehas been annealed or normalizeidjtorelieve anystresses, :the workpiece has app ox matel t e i i n qur o the formi se ments 'orithe i'ng lei'tormingblock 30. 1

jfitted as closely .asjpos'sible against the working faces of the. forming. segmentsipr block and its ends securedin the-,clamps22. *Thelinkszll are 'then'loope'd over thehooks I 9. "This is done-when the forming segments are in I approximately .the relative positions shownj'byjdottedflines in Fig. l. .Aftersecuring'the work, the tension jacksid r a op d uL hIfi' b pumpf fiii, o th u able m tomu hthefqrm nase ment f or block3,0 bodilylfqrwfi idMidiltherebypullthe ends of the work piece. Inthefo'rmshown nj S h ee tI ,Qr thedrawiu s.s multaneously wi oribefqre r after operation. of the tension jacks 24,: the expander jack 8 is operated 'to spreadtheforward or segments with the stem or legs of the work piece fitting into the slot or'slots. The work piece is stretched lengthwise slightly, which causes it to-retain the contour ofwthe forming block or blocks when released; While only onesor two forming segments or blocks are illustrated, it is obvious that three orw'more segments may be piece. While I have illustrated and desoribedwhat .I now regard as the preferred embodiments of my invention,the construction is, of course, subject to modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. I, therefore, do not wish to restrict myself to the particular forms of construction illustrated and described, but desire to avail myself of all modifications that may fall.

within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

v l. Ina reshaping machine for an elongated work piece having a structural cross section: a work table; at least a pair of forming segments in the form of flat blocks adapted to lie and slide flatwise on the work table and having complementary, curved work faces adapted to receive said work piece; anchoring means fixed on the table, means carried by said anchoring means and engageable with the extremities of said work piece and movable tangential to. said Work faces to apply tension to said work piece and draw said Work piece against said work faces; adjustable braces between said anchoring means andsaid 5. A shaping-machine for an elongated work i utilized; depending uponthe sizeof thewwork piece having a structural crosssection, compris forming segments, and means for spreading the work faces of said forming segments with respect to each other to applytension to intermediate portions of said work piece. l

2. In a reshaping machine for an elongated work piece having a structural cross section: a frame, at least a pair of forming segments incorporating complementary work forming edges having therein alined longitudinal channels to receive a portion of said work piece, and having work faces confronting said channels for engagement by other portions of said work piece; an-

- choring means for the work piece on the frame independent of the forming segments and engageable withthe extremities of said work piece for applying tension thereto; adjustable braces between said anchoring means and the forming segments, and means for spreading the work faces of said forming segments for applying tension to said work piece intermediate its extremities.

3. In a reshaping machine for an elongated work piece having a structural cross section; a work table; a forming means adapted to lie on the work table in movable relation thereto'and having a curved workface adapted to receive said work piece; anchoring means fixed on the table, adjustable braces between the anchoring means and said forming means, means carried by said anchoring means and engageable with the extremities of said work piece and movable tangential to said work face and substantially parallel with the work surface of, said table, to apply piece. against said work face. a 14.? A shaping machine for Y an F elongated work pie'cehaving a structural cross section, comprising a frame, formingmeans havinga work. face M definingthecontouroffthe finished work piece,

forming means equalizes tension applied to the workpiece ing aframe, at least a pairof complementary forming segmentshingedtogether and together defining the contour of the finished work piece,

anchoring meanson the frame independent of the forming segments and engageable with the extremities of the work piece for anchoringsame, means effective between said anchoring means and each of the forming segments for moving the latter relatively away from the anchoring means, and means to pivotally move at least one of the segments bodily without distortion thereof and with respect to another segment, by meansof the hinged connection, to apply tension to thework piece intermediate its, extremities. 6. A shaping machine for an elongated work piece having a structural cross section, compris- A ing forming means having a work face defining the contour of the finished work piece, the work face having'varying angularrelation with the perpendicular, anchoring means on the frame spaced from the forming means universal means extending from the anchoring means and engageable with the extremities of said workpiece,

permitting varying angular relation of the work piece, and mechanism at spaced points between the anchoring means and theforming means for moving the forming means forcibly intothe loop formed by the Work piece, to shape same.-

7. A shaping machine for an elongated work piece having a structural cross section, comprising plural segmental forming means, the segments together having a work face defining the contourjof the finished work piece, anchoring means engageable with the extremities of' the work piece for anchoring same, means between the anchoring means and each segment for individually moving the segments relatively away from the anchoring means, and means connected to move the segmentsindividually with respectto each other, to apply tension to the work piece intermediate its extremities.

8. A shaping machine for an elongated work piece having a structural cross section, comprising a frame, plural segmental forming means, the

segments together having a work face defining the contour of the finished work piece, anchor meanson the frame independent of said forming means, clamping elements fastenedtosaid an chor means and adapted to secure the ends of a work piece disposed around said work face, ad-

justable braces between said segments and the anchor means, andmeans opposed to said braces and connected to move the segments individually withrespect to each other, to apply tension to the work piece intermediate its extremities.

9. A shaping machine for an elongated work piece having a structural cross section, compristensionito said work piece andfdraw" said work ins a frame, segmental forming meanathesegments together having .a work face defining the contour of the finished work piece, anchor means on the frame independent of said forming means and engageable with-the extremities of the work piece forenchoring same, adjustable braces between said anchor means and the segments, toggle means connected with segments of the forming means and arranged to move the segments relative to each other when the toggle is actuated, and mechanism opposed to said braces and connected, to actuate the toggle means, to apply tension to the'work piece intermediate its extremities. V 10.. A shaping machine tor an elongated work piece having a structural cross section, comprising a frame, segmental forming means, the segments. together having a work face defining the contour :of the finished work piece, anchor means on the frame independent of said forming means, clampingelements fastened to said anchor means and adapted to secure the ends of a work piece aerate? disposed aronr'idsaid work eace, pneumatic means braced relative to theanchor means and con-- nected to forcibly, independently move the 'fOIIIb ing segments into the loop formed by the work piece, and pneumatic means connected to move the segments apart,, to apply tension within the anchored work piece. a

1L In :a meshaping machine for an elongated work piecehaving a structural cross section; a work table; :a forming means adapted to'lie on-the work talzi'le in movable relation thereto and having a curved work face adapted to receive said work piece, anchoring n'leans fixed on the table,

I an adltustahle :brace between the anchoring'means work face.

and said forming means, means carried by-said anchoring *means andengageable with an extremof :said work piece and movable tangential to said work face and substantially parallel with the work surface of said table to apply tension to said work piece and draw said work piece against said RICHARD SEIFRIED. 

